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Despite the seeming anarchy, Somalia’s service sector has managed to survive and grow…
Mogadishu’s main market offers a variety of goods
from food to the newest electronic gadgets.
Hotels continue to operate, and militias provide security.
- CIA Factbook
The service providers in Somalia Democratic Republic are not that numerous, but they offer a diverse range of services of the highest quality possible.
The telecommunication services are available practically in every population centre of the country as they are offered by private service providers
charging the lowest international rates in Africa.
The largest service providers of the country include the following private companies:
- Telsom Mobile – the leading mobile service operator in Somalia, which controls the biggest market share of GSM users in the country. It is a joint venture company
between the two Somalia telecommunication service providers: Somatel/Kub and Telcom Somalia with headquarters in Mogadishu, the capital.
- Somafone Telecommunications Service Company which is a fully owned subsidiary of Somafone FZ LLC of Dubai Internet City, from Dubai, UAE.
- NationLink Telecom provide telecommunication services all over Somalia and specializes not only in mobile and satellite mobile services,
but also in fixed telephone lines and Internet services.
- Hormuud Telecom Inc. (HorTel) is the largest service provider in the southern regions of the country. This private company owns and operates the telecommunication
network covering the entire southern region of Somalia offering both national and international telephone services.
- Telesom, the largest service provider of Somaliland, specializes in mobile telephone and Internet services and has a strong influence in other 6 regions
of the country.
Due to a wide Somalia diaspora in the West and Gulf countries, the Somalia Internet presence has developed greatly recently. The Internet pages connected to Somalia
are in several languages: English, Arabic, Somali and Bantu. There are four main Internet providers in SDR, two in Mogadishu, and one each in Boosaaso and Hargeisa .
The number of Internet users is constantly growing as an evidence of stable technological development of the country.
Economy
Since the collapse of the state, Somalia has transformed from what Mohamed Siad Barre referred to as "scientific socialism" to a free market economy.
Due to the lack of government oversight or statistics, and the recent war, it is difficult to calculate the size or growth of the economy. For 1994, the CIA estimated
GDP at $3.3 billion In 2001, it was estimated to be $4.1 billion. In 2005, the CIA estimated GDP to be $4.809 billion. Real growth in 2005 was projected at 2.4%.
Economic progress in Somalia is decidedly mixed. As of January 2007, Somalia is still a fragile state with hundreds of thousands of refugees due to massive floods and
the latest fighting of the civil war. GDP per capita remained one of the lowest in the world at $600, meaning many of its people live in extreme poverty.
Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon
livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. After livestock, bananas are the principal export; sugar, sorghum, maize, and fish are products
for the domestic market. The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of GDP. There are no proven oil reserves, but
there are prospects to explore for oil in Puntland. Due to political instability and the protests of the Transitional Federal Government foreign investors are warned to
not make deals until stability is restored.
One optomistic view states 'The outside world’s picture of Somalia has been distorted by the natural tendency of the foreign media to focus on bad news' and that
'[p]eace reigns in most of the country' and 'as a result regional and local governments have been able to resume working in many areas.' Former Somalia ambassador
to Washington, Omar Mohalim Mohamoud says 'Somalis consider themselves born free. To them, the State equals registration, regulation and restriction' and attributes
this prejudice against a new central government to the nomadic culture and the bad experiences of the Barre regime. 'Somalia can only deal with its massive material
and social problems once the pieces of the jigsaw have been fitted back together.'
Infrastructure such as roads are as numerous as those in neighbouring countries but of much lower quality. A World Bank report states the private sector has found
it too hard to build roads due to high transaction costs and the fact that those who pay road fees are not the only ones using the road, presenting a problem
with recuperation of investment. Electricity is furnished by entrepreneurs, who have purchased generators and divided cities into manageable sectors. In 1989,
before the collapse of the government, the national airline had only one airplane.
Now there are approximately fifteen airlines, over sixty aircraft, six international destinations, and more domestic routes. According to a World Bank report,
the 'private airline business in Somalia is now thriving with more than five carriers and price wars between the companies.' The owner of Daallo Airlines says,
'Sometimes it's difficult without a government and sometimes it's a plus," but "Corruption is not a problem, because there is no government.'
Coca Cola Factory in Mogadishu
Coca Cola Factory in Mogadishu
Coca Cola Factory in Mogadishu
The private sector also supplies water. However, a statistic from 2000 indicated that only 21% of the population had access to safe drinking water at that time.
The main problem affecting economic growth is the lack of stability. For businesses to operate, it is necessary to provide some level of security and internationally
recognized governments are widely perceived as being more reliable in this than the traditional tribal leadership that currently holds sway in Somalia. Investors have
returned in recent years; for example, a Coca-Cola bottling plant opened in Mogadishu in 2004.
SOLAR ENERGY BUSINESSES IN SOMALIA
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